The Yale University School of Medicine has a long tradition and record of accomplishments in the training of medical students for careers in academic medicine and research. The present application addresses the intent of this NIH Roadmap initiative (RFA-RM-05-015) by strengthening and expanding a high quality Predoctoral Clinical Research Training Program at The Yale University School of Medicine. Our specific aim is to establish a flexible institutional training program to expand clinical research training and execution among predoctoral medical, nursing, and biomedical engineering students at Yale. The long term objective is to train a generation of clinical researchers with strong methologic skills who are experienced in working within multidisciplinary teams and have a vision of making significant contributions to high quality clinical research. The innovations proposed in the Yale Predoctoral Clinical Research Training Program include a new joint degree MD-Masters for medical students in a pull-out fifth year, requiring specific courses and a year long clinical research project under the supervision of a member of the faculty core and thesis committee. Ten medical students will be supported in this program, six supported by the NIH via this proposal and four by the medical school. Support for preclinical positions in the MD-PhD, Nursing PhD,and Biomedical Engineering Programs will expand clinical research training amongst selected trainees in these disciplines. New courses and seminars are proposed for all students groups at Yale. The proposal documents current strengths and limitations of present funding for predoctoral students pursuing clinical research, the clinical research capacity and infrastructure at Yale, including a description of the institution's major clinical research training programs which currently focus on postdoctoral clinical research training. The program will take maximum advantage of unique resources at Yale, including the student thesis program, established research training programs in patient oriented research, and faculty strengths in clinical research and interdisciplinary approaches. We expect that the continuum of training experiences proposed at Yale will yield a significant return on the investment of the NIH to advance the nation's clinical research enterprise. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]